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ADA, Oklahoma - The Chickasaw Nation Health System (CNHS) is preparing to begin participation in a study with the Oklahoma University College of Nursing that will explore how Native Americans are affected by diabetes, its complications and how to identify medical intervention methods for the American Indian culture.

The study is called "Culture-Specific Diabetes Care for American Indians," and health care officials hope to develop, implement and test culture-specific community-based interventions to improve type 2 diabetes management and outcomes among Oklahoma Indians within the Chickasaw Nation Health System.

Dr. Karethy "Kay" Edwards, Oklahoma University College of Nursing associate professor, said, "The study is significant because beliefs and traditions have an impact on the future behavior of the people in a society. This is particularly important for American Indians, because current health care interventions were developed toward meeting the needs of a young urban, white upper-middle class population."

Dr. Jo Ellen Habas, Carl Albert Indian Health Facility (CAIHF) endocrinologist, says, "People have different needs and not everyone learns by using the same information transfer method. The study’s purpose is to discover the most effective methods to deliver information to our patients and to determine the specific areas of information that interest them most."

Participants in the study will be chosen by the diabetic care team. Two focus groups, each group consisting of between 8-9 individuals, will be interviewed, on three separate occasions, by trained moderators to gather information regarding the participant’s perceptions and views of diabetes and how the disease has affected them. The data will then be gathered to determine the most effective interventions. The study is expected to last approximately six months.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily living. The disease has reached epidemic proportions among Native Americans. Overall prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Native Americans is 12.2 percent, versus 5.2 percent of the general population. In some tribes, fifty percent of their population have diabetes.

The serious complications of diabetes are increasing in Native Americans - end stage renal disease is six times higher; amputation rates are 3 to 4 times higher and diabetic retinopathy, which describes all abnormalities of the small blood vessels of the retina caused by diabetes, occurs in 24.4% of Oklahoma Indians.

Dr. Habas says, "The Chickasaw Nation Health System’s diabetes care program is at the forefront of Native American diabetes education. Through the support and encouragement of our administration, the Chickasaw Nation is developing innovative methods of treatment to serve Native Americans."

Such innovative methods include a monthly diabetes dinner and discussion group, "Sweet Talk," open to all CNHS patients and their families. The group will meet Jan. 11, at 6 p.m., in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) conference room, at CAIHF, 1001 N. Country Club Rd. Beginning in February, the meetings will be moved to the third Thursday of every month and will be held in the CAIHF’s main conference room.

The Chickasaw Nation Health System serves over 73,000 Native American patients and has approximately 170,000 patient visits each year.

For more information about the Chickasaw Nation Health System Diabetes program, or "Sweet Talk," phone: 580-421-4532.